1 Peter/
4

The work of the Holy Spirit is extensive, and we will explore further how we
may walk in the Spirit next week. We should note today, however, that the Holy
Spirit does not tend to make a fuss about Himself ...Read More

Today’s passage, which also says that the righteous are scarcely saved, does not warn us that salvation can be lost. Rather, as John Calvin says, it tells us that no one enters the kingdom without experiencing hardship. Even in ...Read More

The history of God’s people indicates that judgment always begins within the covenant community. For example, the Israelites were sent into exile before the wicked Babylonian empire was judged. Today’s passage expressly states that judgment begins with the ...Read More

John Calvin writes, “it is no common kindness from God, that he calls us, freed and exempted from the common punishment of our sins, to so honourable a warfare as to undergo for the testimony of his Gospel either exiles ...Read More

How apt are you to play the part of the righteous victim? Do you become indignant when you experience hardship even though you might deserve it for meddling in someone else’s affairs? Though we are called to rescue others ...Read More

Peter reminds us today that if we suffer for bearing the name of Christ we are blessed. Just as the Holy Spirit rested upon Jesus, so too does He rest upon us, and our suffering proves that we indeed have ...Read More

Though our sin may bring suffering, the suffering Peter has in mind here is the suffering we endure from the hands of ungodly men because of our profession of Christ. When we stand for Jesus in our schools, homes, or ...Read More

Peter does not give us an exhaustive list of gifts here; he gives two broad examples that encompass many of the specific ones listed elsewhere in the New Testament. What are your spiritual gifts? Do you have particular talents that ...Read More

Are you doing what you can to love earnestly and overlook a number of minor offenses from other people? Or do you tend to hold grudges? Are you expressing your love for others in your church through hospitality, or do ...Read More

How are you living in light of the return of Christ? Are you obsessed with trying to learn the exact timing of the second advent? Or are you praying and working in light of His return? There is much work ...Read More

The suffering and death of many in the early church caused many of the first Christians to wonder if God would be true to His promise to vindicate His people. However, today’s passage shows that God will reward those ...Read More

As Christians, we are all too often ridiculed when we do not agree with our culture’s permissive attitude towards sexuality and substance abuse, or with the embrace of relativity and disrespect for authority figures. When people make fun of ...Read More

When Peter says that those who suffer in the flesh have ceased from sin, he is not teaching that sinless perfection is possible in this life. Until we are glorified we will still sin. However, as John Calvin writes, if ...Read More